This invention relates to furniture with a fastening device, particularly for securing together two parts of a knockdown quick assembly piece of furniture, which term includes partitioning or other panel members.
In the Specification of commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,859 there is described a knockdown cabinet having a base, sides and a top which are assembled together simply by pushing the sides into channels formed along the side edges of the base and top. The sides are a close location fit in the channels and no further fastening means are required. For some applications, so that the cabinet can more easily be moved around once assembled, additional fastening means are required to hold the sides to the base and possibly also to the top.
Quick release fastening devices have been devised for innumerable purposes over many years. One such device is disclosed in European Patent Specification 0143678 for locating a seat in a vehicle. In this arrangement a stud locates in a keyhole slot to prevent the seat lifting and a springy strip abuts the stud when so located to resist translational movement. However, using the free end of a springy strip as a stop member is unreliable.
In British Patent 796191 a nut is mounted in an aperture by a combination of a stud fitting in a keyhole slot and a detent retaining it there. This is intended to be a permanent fixture with the nut then acting to receive a screw for securing a panel or other member to the so mounted nut.
British Patent 888851 discloses a stud locating in a keyhole slot with a spring acting on the top of the stud when so located to deter translational movement and retain it there. However, this does not provide a positive stop against such translational movement.
One object of the present invention is to provide a fastening device suitable for securing together panels or other furniture parts and providing a positive but quick release coupling of the parts. Preferably the fastening means are fixed to the furniture parts as they are sold in knockdown form, so that the assembler does not need to use further separate fasteners such as screws or bolts and needs no tools.